Dog nipped child

[Twinkleandstressed]

Dog was tied up outside corner shop - I could see him from the till point. Only picking up one item. Dog is usually friendly and calm. Child darts out of shop with father and runs towards my dog wanting to pet him. My dog reacts my growling and going to bite him. He didn’t thankfully but did hurt his lip by jumping. Dad is useless and just walks on to car. I quickly go outside and go to apologise. Mum who is sitting in the car is consoling child - I ask if he is hurt. She says just a scrape on mouth. I apologise again and explain that my dog must have been startled but I feel terrible and that I cannot trust my dog.

The child was too close. It moved into the dog’s personal space. This couldn’t have happened otherwise.

Not a dog lover now but grew up with them - I'd say this is 50:50

You should not have left your dog unattended - dogs feel very vulnerable when they are tied up and cannot escape, so are on high alert. Equally, a child should know that you do not try and touch a strange annimal. Unfortunately this created the perfect storm for an incident.

A dog doesn't have personal space. It is not a person.

As it is an animal driven by its instincts, it is incumbent on anyone in charge of that animal not to leave it in a public space where it can attack someone. This couldn't have happened if the owner had acted responsibly, as she has admitted multiple times on this thread.

Of course a dog has personal space. Everything sentient does. Get into a bear or lion’s personal space and see what happens to you.

I was just about to say something similar, but you beat me to it!

@MasterBeth if you read the OP's post of 19:21 there is no evidence that the dog did in fact bite/nip the child, so not sure why the OP used that term in her opening post. The dog bared its teeth but dogs do that as a warning mechanism together with a growl, doesn't mean they are going to bite anyone. The dog also jumped up, the mother thought the dog had bumped the child's mouth with its head or paw, not teeth.

In fact, it is a good sign that the dog growled, shows it has restraint and didn't go straight into bite mode. Dogs should not be taught not to growl, it is important they have that warning mechanism.

And dogs do have personal space, that is why it is important in a family home that they have their own area they can retreat to if they want, and children should know not to invade that space. I hate seeing photos of children getting into the dog crate with the family pet, that crate/bed is the dog's safe space

Heard it all now.

Of course a dog has personal space. Ffs. It's not a robot.

The child should not have been able to approach it. The parents are just as at fault as the OP for leaving the dog unattended.

Dogs are not robots. But they are also not people. They maintain a social distance but they cannot have "personal space".

Thinking that dogs are furry people is what causes too many posters to ignore the fact that a child has been attacked by an animal.

The child attacked the dog.

It’s just been explained to you in four different ways how sentient beings of all species have personal space. You’re clearly choosing not to understand because it suits your agenda not to.

The OP says "Dog nipped child" and details how the dog attacked the child with its head (I believe this is where a dog's where its teeth are), "scraping" (?) the child's mouth.

An animal was left unsupervised in a public place and injured a child. I don't know why you want to minimise that or make excuses for the OP (she isn't even making excuses herself!). She left her dog where it could attack a child. That's the beginning and the end of it. You shouldn't leave anything dangerous in a public place where a child can get hurt.

You have referred to dogs as maintaining a 'social distance.' I mean, it's almost as if you see them as - oh I dunno - furry people. How is maintaining a social distance different from having a personal space? Whatever you want to call it, all animals have it. I'm sure you wouldn't be deliberating over which expression to use if you found yourself up close to a grizzly bear.

No it didn't.

The clue is in the words.

A dog is not a person.

A dog is a social animal.

@MasterBeth scraping isn’t biting, something has moved against the child’s lip (which wasn’t cut). The OP further clarified that she didn’t see teeth make contact, and the parent thought either head or paw had made contact. So it could quite easily have been a claw. A head also includes nose, eyes, ears and a skull.

I was quite often head butted by DS when he was a baby, I never said I had been bitten all because his head is also where his teeth were!

The child startled the dog. The dog reacted by giving a warning sign.

In this situation yes, the dog shouldn't have been left unattended but some parents are just nuts. My DD has a husky - fortunately he is super friendly and loves attention from everyone - of which he gets a fair amount! We were all out in their local high street once with dog on lead waiting outside a shop (I mean humans as well as dog waiting) when two young kids ran over exclaiming in excitement and started petting and stroking the dog with absolutely no warning whatsoever. Mum was with them a bit further away but didn't intervene. As it happens it was fine, as I say he tends to get a bit of attention from strangers when out and laps it all up, but most people do ask first as they couldn't possibly know how a strange dog might react. I was gobsmacked.

@MasterBeth dogs go to quiet spaces when they want quiet, all my pet dogs have done that. I was taught as a child and likewise I have taught our DC to leave a dog alone when they are in that space.

In the same way if the dog is snoozing on the sofa you don’t go and jump on the sofa and startle them awake

First three words on the page: "Dog nipped child." You are assuming these words are untrue. Why?

But maybe you're right. The dog could have clawed the child rather than bitten the child. We'll never know.

The dog still attacked the child. Not "gave a warning sign." Attacked.

The dog had not gone to a quiet space. It had been tied up in a public space, outside a shop.

What you do with your dog in your home is up to you. It is up to the owners of animals not to leave them in public spaces where they can attack members of the public.

@MasterBeth I am assuming the words 'nipped' might not be true as the OP later clarified that she didn't see the dog actually touch the child never mind nip/bite. The child's mother also thought the dog had bumped the child. A bump is not an attack.

If you bumped into me as you walked past me in the street, should I call the police?

Growling and baring teeth is giving a warning sign not attacking. Like me telling someone to go away if they were annoying me.

My dog sometimes caught me with their claws when they jumped up, just like my DC has sometimes caught me with their nails. Neither have attacked me.

Why are you so keen to minimise what happened? Neither of us were there, and the OP isn't 100% sure herself, although the first word she uses is "nipped".

What we do know is that the dog didn't only growl. It jumped up at the child and made physical contact. Maybe the dog "clawed" (your words) or maybe it bit. Maybe it "only" butted the child with its head while snarling and bearing it's teeth. It really doesn't matter.

If another person jumped at a child in the street, causing physical contact, maybe scratching them, maybe bumping them with their head you would say they have been assaulted.

It's not relevant what your own children accidentally do to you in a regular family situation, this is a strange, unsupervised animal left in the street which the OP admits she was irresponsible to leave!

The dog wasn't threatened.

The dog may have felt threatened but that's because he is a dog and can't reason. You shouldn't leave an animal tied up on the street where it can hurt children.

Incredible that your concern is for the dog that attacked the child, not the child who was attacked.

Parents need to educate their children to not go running up to dogs. The poor dog would have been petrified. Nothing worse than negligent Parents that then whine if the kid gets hurt. Poor dog.